" The Commander nodded at the General, who was seated at the other end of the conference table. The General said nothing, merely nodded at his G2.Colo...el Riley, the Intelligence Officer, rose and fired up the holographic display. "As you're all aware, the Confederacy names stars differently than we do -- or at least they name the ones with occupied planets differently, anyway. Basically, they stick the letters 'at' behind the local name of the primary occupied planet of a system; as a result,. The day had been long and tiring. She had worked in the mud, hoeing her garden and harvesting some of its gifts. Her body had pulled and yanked at the stubborn horse that refused to do its part and help her with the pulling of the large tree branches that had been blown down in the storm the night before. The rain had been coming for three days, but tomorrow was supposed to be beautiful. There would be storm damage and mud, but the sun was scheduled to shine. Elizabeth slept a full and. She has always told me when her last daughterwas educated and in the workforce her and her husband would retire andtravel, besides Bridget loves her work but not the extra hours andheadaches it brings with it. You and i know that very well don't wedear?"When she made the announcement the following morning, Nicole immediatelyaccepted the opportunity to buy her out. Miss Britt told her she wouldhave her attorney draw up the sales agreement and it would include anemployment guarantee of 10 years. As I entered, there was a middle-aged man sitting behind a desk, looking like a typical salary man. Suit and tie, wearing glasses and looking slightly surprised at the sight of a "Gaijin" (foreigner.) I entered and in my splintered Japanese asked if I could get a massage ("massaji.") The clerk smiled, nodded and stood up, pointing to the price list on the wall and opening a book of photos for me.The book contained photos of the various masseurs on call that evening. Most of them were a bit.